“They are crimes of opportunity, meaning people leave their cars unlocked and if there’s someone out there looking to grab money or property who is trying door handles quickly, they’re going to get robbed,” Deputy Police Chief Sean Lydon said.

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Lydon said cash, sunglasses, phone chargers and a couple of wallets were taken, but noted nothing of high value was stolen.

The cars targeted were parked in driveways and on streets on Fairmount Avenue, Hollis Avenue, Acorn Avenue, West Street, Parkside Avenue, Sheffield Drive and surrounding streets. Residents reported the thefts between 7:30 p.m. on Monday and 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Lydon said.

Braintree police have no leads on who could be behind the thefts, but said they are likely connected. Instead, Lydon urged people to lock their car doors, especially at night.

“If all of these cars locked, probably none of these crimes would have happened,” Lydon said, noting thieves didn’t smash windows to get into the cars.

Since December, at least 56 cars have been broken into in Braintree.

More than 30 cars were broken into in East Braintree over the weekend of Dec. 2 and 3. Another eight cars were targeted around Kendall Avenue on Jan. 30, but police were able to nab the suspect in that case, Lydon said.

After an alert resident called police when she saw a stranger trying to access her car, officers were able to follow tracks in the snow and arrested 29-year-old Michael P. Carter Jr. of Dorchester.

A judge set Carter’s bail at $1,000 after he pleaded not guilty to seven counts of breaking and entering and one count of destruction of property in Quincy District Court on Jan. 31. He returns to court on Feb. 22.

But Lydon said catching suspects in these kinds of scattered crimes can be difficult because people don’t often notice they’ve been victimized until hours later.

To remind people to lock their doors, he recommended the 9 p.m. routine, a campaign police departments across the country are using to get people in the habit of locking their doors and windows every night at 9 p.m.